Watch out Mars...
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 19,257
Likes: 19
From: San Diego, CA
Originally Posted by The Raptor,Dec 22 2007, 06:01 PM
The asteroid, known as 2007 WD5, is similar in size to an object that hit remote Tunguska Forest in central Siberia in 1908, unleashing energy equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb and wiping out 60 million trees.
If the asteroid does smash into Mars, it will probably hit near the equator close to where the rover Opportunity has been exploring the Martian plains since 2004. The robot is not in danger because it lies outside the impact zone. The Global surveyor orbiting Mars will have a ringside seat. Speeding at 8 miles a second, a collision would carve a hole the size of the famed Meteor Crater in Arizona.
In 1994, fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 smacked into the back side of Jupiter, creating a series of overlapping fireballs in space. Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.
Unlike an Earth impact, Astronomers are not afraid, but excited by the prospect of impact.
If the asteroid does smash into Mars, it will probably hit near the equator close to where the rover Opportunity has been exploring the Martian plains since 2004. The robot is not in danger because it lies outside the impact zone. The Global surveyor orbiting Mars will have a ringside seat. Speeding at 8 miles a second, a collision would carve a hole the size of the famed Meteor Crater in Arizona.
In 1994, fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 smacked into the back side of Jupiter, creating a series of overlapping fireballs in space. Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.
Unlike an Earth impact, Astronomers are not afraid, but excited by the prospect of impact.
